Construction begins on Forks logistics facility

By Morning Call Staff

Nov 02, 2015 | 6:44 PM

This is an artist's rendering for the planned LogistiCenter at 33 to be built in Forks Township. Officials held a groundbreaking Thursday for the new warehouse, near the newly owned Charles Chrin Interchange along Route 33 in neighboring Palmer Township. (COURTESY OF DERMODY PROPERTIES / RENDERING BY RANDALL-PAULSON ARCHITECTS)

Construction has begun on a 475,800-square-foot industrial distribution center on 31.3 acres in Forks Township.

Commercial developer Dermody Properties of Reno, Nev., and PCCP, a San Francisco real estate finance and investment management firm, plan to open the facility, to be dubbed LogistiCenter at 33, by summer 2016 at the Forks Business Park at 4200 E. Braden Blvd. Officials broke ground on the development Thursday.

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Gene Preston, a partner in Dermody's east regional office, said the new Charles Chrin Interchange along Route 33 in neighboring Palmer Township prompted the deal.

"That is the overriding reason ... the new interchange that opened up the Route 33 corridor," Preston said Monday. The interchange, which opened in July, provides easier access to Route 33 and adjoining interstates from business centers such as the one in Forks Township.

"From the 30,000-foot view, the eastern Lehigh Valley is one of the premier industrial warehouse distribution markets in the country," said Preston, noting the easy access the interchange brings to other highways.

The building, which will be about 10 acres, could house one or multiple tenants, Preston said. With 36-foot ceilings, it will be suitable for a traditional warehouse but also for e-commerce. Other features include 226 car parking spaces, 85 trailer parking spaces and 64 loading docks.

Preston declined to provide an estimated construction cost.

Northampton County property records show LC 33 Owner LLC purchased the land in late August for $9.5 million from area developer J.G. Petrucci Inc. Petrucci bought the land in January for $7.25 million from Henningsen Cold Storage Co. Henningsen had eyed the site for a cold-storage facility, but the Oregon company chose not to build.

Privately held Dermody Properties has logistics facilities in multiple states, including three developments in the Lehigh Valley. In 2007, it built a 1-million-square-foot commercial building in Lower Nazareth Township for C&S Wholesale Grocery, one of the nation's largest distributors of goods to grocery stores. But it hasn't undertaken new projects here for several years, until now.